Moments of despair can knock you off your game.

One such moment is what we call the “false summit.”

It happens when you think you “should” have arrived… but you haven’t; when you think you “should” be done… and you’re not.

Moments of despair – false summits – can rattle even those at the top of their game.

When elite swimmer Florence Chadwick made her first attempt to cross the treacherous 26-mile strait between Catalina Island and the coast of California, she quit. She’d been in the shark-infested waters for more than 15 hours. The fog was so thick, she could barely see her support boat.

Cold and tired and despondent, she asked her team to pull her from the water. When she got in the boat, she discovered that she’d given up just a mile short of the shore.

She gave up because she thought she should have gotten “there” already. Because she couldn’t see her goal.

Staying the course is so much easier when you can see your summit. But the truth is that false summits are pretty common.

This is when the “why” of what you’re doing really matters. Connect again with why you’re doing what you’re doing… why it matters to you… why it matters to the people you serve… why it matters to the world.

Claim that why.

It’s the fuel that will help you stay steady through the fog; persevere across those false summits; push through those moments of despair; so that you can achieve those hopes and dreams you hold dear.